Harmony and unity can be established if we all work together for something higher than ourselves

Auroville Today: Can you tell us about your life in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram since you joined it in 1969? How were your meetings with The Mother, and what were your most memorable experiences?

Srimoyi: My grandparents lived in the Ashram in the 1940s when Sri Aurobindo was still physically present. My two siblings joined the Ashram school with the blessings of The Mother in 1962 and 1964, I finally in 1969. Looking back I realise what a grace it was to have been accepted by Her and allowed into Her fold. It was the most wonderful time of our life when we lived and grew in Their atmosphere. We learnt everything we wanted to, were exposed to the highest form of art and culture, were given a thorough physical education, lived under Their protection and thrived in Their rarefied atmosphere, were exposed to the vast and profound teachings of Sri Aurobindo and Mother. My most memorable experiences, of course, were my meetings with Her. Though I had seen Her from the age of one, I recall most the last meeting with Her on my birthday in August 1972. The feeling of awe as I stood there in her presence unable to move while she was being so sweet wishing me again and again “Bonne Fete… Bonne Annee...”. I can still feel Her hand going over my head as I bowed down to Her.

After your graduation from the Ashram school you lived for some time in Mumbai, where you further developed your interest in dance and the performing arts. You then joined Auroville in 1986. What brought you to Auroville?

Auroville was the Mother’s creation and therefore very much part of our world as we grew up. In my heart it was always a very special place which interested me very much. I had always planned to be an Aurovilian at one point or another because I believed in it and was deeply inspired by Her dream of Auroville. I was in Mumbai during my early twenties full of energy and enthusiasm to discover myself through my life, my friendships, my artistic interests, the various kinds of work experiences that I collected there. It was a very enjoyable phase of my life.

Many people know you from the various dance and theatre performances you have been engaged in, in particular those based on Sri Aurobindo’s works, such as the performances of sections of Sri Aurobindo’s poem Savitri in which you played the role of Death and recited large sections of Savitri. What is the impact of such activities on you personally?

The performing arts have always been a challenge as well as an occasion to progress as a human being through interaction with fellow performers. Delivery and interpretation of the art have to be discovered. It is a deep inner process that can only be accessed with sincerity.

Taking part in all these performances is a great joy. I consider myself very fortunate that I am allowed / invited to participate in them. I was interested in the performing arts from school. The education in the Ashram put a lot of emphasis on the arts. In Mumbai I trained under Veenapani Chawla, and learnt Chhau, a martial dance of Mayurbhanj, Odisha. This dance form was used in her production of Trojan Women by Euripides and performed in Prithvi Theatre, NCPA and other venues of Mumbai. In Auroville, I have acted in Jill Navarre’s productions of The Legend of Irumbai, Nishtha, the story of Margaret Woodrow Wilson who Sri Aurobindo named Nishtha when she became his disciple, as Ariel in The Tempest, as Maria in As you like it, as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, as Dorinne in Tartuffe and other productions. With Ellen, I have participated in some one act plays of Chekhov and other comedies by English playwrights. Under Aryamani’s direction of Sri Aurobindo’s plays, I have acted in Perseus The Deliverer as Athene and queen Cassiopeia of Syria, as Hertha in Eric, as Mother of Light in The Triple Soul_ Forces, as Death in Savitri besides other productions where Sri Aurobindo’s text was used. As a dancer, I have performed as Maheshwari, Mother of Might, Sri Krishna, Durga and recently I presented the text of Maheshwari and Mahakali from Sri Aurobindo’s The Mother_ in a dance performance. The most beautiful and enjoyable works are always Sri Aurobindo’s and by far the most inspiring. Learning his lines is an experience of joy and wonder as their beauty, power, meaning reveal themselves to us gradually. They are intimate and personal experiences not easy to talk about. In brief, I simply love taking part in them.

Going to a more mundane level: in daily life you are taking care of the Samasti Guesthouse, you were one of the executives of the Matrimandir, and you were also involved in community activities such as the celebration of Auroville’s 50th anniversary and the Water Ceremony. Can you describe what you see as the main focus of your work in Auroville?

In all the work I have done and continue doing in Auroville, I wouldn’t call any part of it “mundane”. Anything / everything I did has been joyful in spite of all the challenges. One of the most touching experiences for me has been to sweep under the Banyan Tree. I have always offered help wherever I thought I could be useful in Auroville.

The work of running Samasti Guest House came to me at a point when I needed work in Auroville. It was/is a guest house small enough for me to manage while taking care of my kids as a single mother and it gave me enough time later to actively work at Matrimandir for over 15 years, eight years as an executive, organising all that was needed to be done there for visitors reception. I have worked in the Auroville Town Development Council for a short while and for several years as a trustee of Guest House Trust. The last three years were in the Working Committee. I hope to be useful in whatever way possible, big or small, in manifesting the Mother’s dream.

The Water Ceremony at the occasion on Auroville’s 50th anniversary was a wonderful experience for all of us who participated in and organised it. The idea of bringing water from all over the world was a divine inspiration and in its execution it was a humbling soulful experience to see how everybody from all over the world, including somebody who brought water from the South Pole, participated enthusiastically in the celebration. It was a testimony of water having no boundaries, an element that cannot be contained. It is like the Chit Shakti, the force of the Universal Mother that flows into every nook and corner of the universe. Everything around the ceremony was a Divine gift. It was a special moment in the life of Auroville.

On February 15, 2021 you were selected as a member of the Working Committee of the Residents” Assembly. About four months afterwards, Dr. Jayanti Ravi joined as Secretary of the Auroville Foundation. Can you reflect on the work of your group before and after the joining of Dr. Ravi?

It is only recently that the term ‘Working Committee of the Residents Assembly’ has come into use. Even when I was selected I recall it as being called just ‘Working Committee’. As far as I understand the mandate of the Wcom remains the same no matter who the Secretary is. And as a member of the Wcom I was trying to fulfill my role to the best of my ability.

What brought four of the Working Committee members, including yourself, to the decision on April 27, 2022 to dismiss the other three members and replace them with other Aurovilians, and so constituting a Working Committee without the endorsement of the Residents’ Assembly? And was this done at the request or instigation of Dr. Ravi?

Whatever happened, happened because all of us as Aurovilians failed to remain centred on the purpose and aim of Auroville and strayed away from the teachings that keep us inspired to keep manifesting the dream. Had we all kept her words in our awareness then perhaps we might have found the strength to overcome the differences, challenges and struggle and found a way to go forward:

As long as you are for some and against others, you are necessarily outside the Truth.

You should constantly keep good will and love in your heart and let them pour out on all with tranquility and equality.

The Mother, 16.12.1966

This was up to us to deal with, as Aurovilians. It is indeed unfortunate that because of decades of broken trust and broken promises and allowing the situation to deteriorate, that instead of allowing our better selves to take control of it, we could not bring ourselves to resolve it on our own.

Dr. Ravi and the Governing Board recognized the new Working Committee (consisting of the four selected members and the three new ones appointed by the four). Could you reflect on why this was done, and why the Residents’ Assembly decisions of 10/05/2022 and 23/08/2022 were not respected by them, and why the members of this Working Committee ignored the Residents’ Assembly decision of February 5, 2024 that constituted a new Working Committee?

I cannot speak on behalf of the Secretary or the Governing Board. In my opinion, the Foundation Office along with the Ministry of Education had confidence in us as we fulfilled the role of the Working Committee in the spirit of collaboration respectfully more than the others because none of them would have been happy working with people who had put a court case against the Central Government’s administrative office.

As Working Committee members, for the sake of the entire community, it is expected that respectful negotiations are pursued with patience. Especially when we Aurovilians who have been here more years than others have been practicing to imbibe the 12 qualities.

And then, how is it that so many community members had no knowledge of these Residents’ Assembly processes? I also consider it a strange question to ask since we were in a situation where one small set of residents is perpetually using lawyers and court orders.

Under normal circumstances, too, it would be difficult to accept such a Residents’ Assembly decision when so many were excluded from the process. The Residents’ Assembly does not comprise only a small faction of one view.

I have participated in most of them but at one point one begins to wonder why we cannot be a Residents’ Assembly that is positive and says “yes let’s do it”? Let’s move ahead and see how to manifest this wonderful vision of Auroville? What about the adventure Mother called us to?

Can you share your reflections on the work of the Working Committee? Looking back on your experience with this WC what do you think the group achieved and where do you think you have failed, and why?

We managed to get the work going on despite the chaos. We updated the Register of Residents, a long and laborious task undertaken by a large team of Aurovilians, although sharing it with the community is still pending; we have maintained good relationships with Governing Board members and had regular interactions as mandated. Going forward, how everything unfolds remains to be seen. Personally, I would like to see Mother’s vision of the project of Auroville which includes the Matrimandir, the lake, the city, the Greenbelt for agriculture (not just for forest) manifest as per Her will and that we the Aurovilians collaborate with Her in making it happen.

However, looking back, I see that our time, energy, institutional memory and enthusiasm for Auroville could have been better utilised and a lot more.

One persistent complaint is that this Working Committee hardly ever reported about its work, apart from in a few public meetings together with other Governing Board constituted working groups and the Secretary. As far as I remember, this Working Committee did not publish regular reports, nor was there ever any report published in the News and Notes about the meetings of this Working Committee with the Governing Board. Why was there no transparency?

There were a lot of invitations to have interactions but the interactions were not enthusiastic and there is also the fact that people were being asked to boycott these meetings. Besides this, anything and everything we reported was immediately used against us, sometimes resulting in more court cases. Every action we undertook was dissected and hung out for nasty speculation and comments. Eventually, most of our work and responsibilities were being taken over by the Foundation because of the lack of an Aurovilian workforce.

Another complaint is that the Working Committee and/or the Secretary never allowed people to meet with the Governing Board to present their issues. The former Governing Board headed by Dr. Karan Singh would always interact with people, and the Working Committee would then schedule a time for them. Such Board meetings would usually take two days, one for presentations by Auroville working groups and individuals, the second for the meetings of the Board and International Advisory Council. It appears that the agenda of the present one-day meetings of the Board are fixed by the Secretary only. Did this Working Committee support this?

I would like to refresh our memory on how these meetings were conducted in the past decades. All working groups made a report prior to the Governing Board meeting and submitted them to the Working Committee and then met the Governing Board members to present their reports and have an interaction with the International Advisory Council and Governing Board members along with the chairman. We never had such meetings open to all Aurovilians. In fact, the Working Committee rationed out time slots of a maximum of 10 minutes and usually even shorter for such presentations because of the time constraints. I am sure you remember how it was, since one member of the AVtoday team has in the past been a member of many Working Committees.

Can you reflect on the Working Committee’s interaction with the members of the International Advisory Council?

There was good interaction with members who were willing to meet with us. These meetings were in person or online.

During your tenure as Working Committee member, many things have happened which have shaken the community to the core. There was the midnight raid on the Youth Centre; the cutting of maintenances; the dismissal of forest workers; the takeover of the Auroville Archives, the Auroville Media Liaison Service, the Safety and Security Team, the Auroville Radio and the Auroville.org.in email server by the Auroville Foundation; the filing of police complaints by the office of the Foundation against individuals who believed they were the rightful Working Committee members; there were problems of obtaining recommendations for visa; and there was an increased scrutiny of community finances including those of its more than 800 units and activities. At the same time, we have seen the Secretary taking decisions to popularize Auroville by inviting many groups of people from outside Auroville for events, without community participation. Last but not least there is the drive to manifest the Crown, radials and outer ring road as indicated – but not specified – in the Auroville Universal Township Master Plan (Perspective 2025). What has been the position of the Working Committee in all these events? And would you agree that all this amounts to a Government of India takeover of Auroville?

Now we come to the crux of the matter.

“...Many things have happened which have shaken the community to the core...” Is this a subjective view?

Residents have been put through a lot of trauma and stress for having to choose a side or be boycotted. Every topic you have mentioned is contextual and needs an interview separately. The list you have mentioned has a background. The context and story of each issue is known only to those who have lived here for decades and gone through all that we have had to go through. Saying anything here would be over-simplifying. However, it is important to inquire deeper into each topic. For example, to reveal the complaint that was lodged with the police and then ask if it was necessary to do that or not, would be an interesting discussion. When a theft occurs, it is normal to make a police complaint and that’s what was done. Removing official documents from an office and deleting all data from an official computer, appropriating laptops, are serious offenses as per the law and need to be reported. This is what I understand.

In the same way, it is prudent to ask if a security team is qualified to secure/protect Auroville from vices and ensuing repercussions when it announces in writing that they will not report on drugs in Auroville.

Let us talk about the clearing of the Youth Centre. This is a story that goes back to 1996/97 when the Youth Centre was intentionally built on the location earmarked for the Crown road and trees planted all along on it. When objections were raised we were reassured that the trees would be removed when the road comes, the timber used to build the city. In the years that followed, we saw that not only were these promises not kept but this area which was meant to be the city-centre with Matrimandir at its very centre, was being turned into a forest. Then it was turned into an environmental issue, cutting down trees to lay the much needed electrical cable was not allowed, the markings for the Right of Way removed and destroyed, the surveyors chased out... and all this again and again...

There were meetings galore, usually attended by hundreds of forest people and their supporters who booed, hooted and jeered at any attempt to build the city. In 2012, after cyclone Thane had uprooted and felled most of the trees in Auroville, an office order had been issued by the then Secretary of AV Foundation to complete the Right of Way for the infrastructure of the Crown. The Green Group people talked of human unity and dialogue about community consultation, Residents’ Assembly approval and the whole spiel that was given to us innumerable times before and continued to be given to us for another decade. We would go home exhausted. I heard somebody once say, and I agree, “We came here for the Mother’s Dream. Why do we have to fight for it now? Isn’t this the Mother’s project?”

In my opinion, these individuals need to be asked, what made them feel they had the right to obstruct what was approved by the Mother for Her project? If they didn’t believe in Her plans why did they continue to live in Auroville which is Her project? Why did they use everything in Auroville, be supported by Auroville which is Her project and yet work against Her plans? Did they ever think that the land they occupied were acquired with donations offered by Mother’s children for manifesting Her Dream? Why did they use the youth? It is very easy to inculcate the youth with an ideology and use them to fight their battle for them. These adults responsible for doing all these things need to answer these questions.

Very soon after her arrival, from July to November 2021, the Secretary had a series of meetings with all those who objected, were against the city, and were occupying large tracts of land as stewards and preventing development of the city for decades. To be fair to her, she tried, though unsuccessfully, to reach out to them to convince them to allow the development of the Crown. The current Governing Board in its first meeting asked that the work of clearing the Crown and related infrastructure be built without further delay. The Secretary then issued an office order to the Auroville Town Development Council and they in turn issued a work order to do the work.

If my memory doesn’t fail me, I think that between 5th and 9th December, the Secretary in consultation with the Youth Centre spokesperson, a representative of the YC, the youngest member of the WC, and other respected members of the community came up with a solution, an agreement was reached that would have taken care of all aspects of the situation and cleared the Crown in the Youth Centre area in collaboration with the youth themselves. An official statement was issued with details of the agreement reached, stamped and signed by the Secretary. But her plan was sabotaged in the implementation stage by adults who came and stopped it repeatedly over two days. Has anyone ever asked these adults why they sabotaged a plan that would have allowed clearing of the Crown in a peaceful manner?

Then came 9th December and all that came to pass thereafter.

It is evident that there was never any intention on the part of the squatters and their supporters to allow the Crown to manifest, at least not in ‘their’ areas.

As for cutting of maintenances of the farmers, no member of the Working Committee agreed to or supported it. The matter should/could have been handled in a different way. We tried our best to initiate a dialogue with no success with the members of the Funds and Assets Management Committee.

As more and more Aurovilians boycott Auroville and stop working and participating in Auroville activities, their places are being given over to employees of the Foundation. At the same time, one hears from other Aurovilians how they have no work or that their maintenances have been cut all of a sudden by Budget Coordination Committee.

This can be resolved when we as Aurovilians resolve to take responsibility for Auroville and what belongs to Auroville and contribute to its sustenance as a service to the Mother and not to the people who are in power.

Because no matter what, the project of Auroville is and will always be under the control and protection of the Universal Mother.

What is your take on the fact that so many court cases have been instigated by individual Aurovilians against the Auroville Foundation, often questioning the Foundation’s adherence to the Auroville Foundation Act?

The problems of Auroville need to be solved by Aurovilians and not through court cases.

Dr. Ravi has executed a number of land exchanges, exchanging lands outside the Master Plan area for crucial lands inside the city area. What role has the Working Committee played in these exchanges?

Working Committee members have been diligently working to negotiate and resolve the problem with these exchanges as much as they can, given the situation where a land committee has been created to handle the exchanges.

You resigned from the Working Committee in March this year, as your term of office of three years was over on February 15 this year. One other member of your Working Committee also resigned. However, the community was not informed about these resignations. Why did this not happen? And on what grounds do the remaining five members believe they can continue to act as Working Committee, ignoring the Residents’ Assembly resolution of February this year, and also that their own term of office ended on February 15, 2024 as well?

I sent in my resignation to the team. It was up to them to announce it.

The impact of three – most probably difficult – years as member of the Working Committee must have been heavy. How have you personally dealt with it? And, on hindsight, do you feel you could have done things differently?

It is not quite right to assume that they were the most difficult years of my life. I never thought of them as such.

I signed up for the work with full awareness of what it entails. I am privileged to be given this chance by the residents. Every experience is a learning experience and I stand by my conscious choice.

A major issue we all have seen developing in the recent years is the breaking up of community harmony and the development of many discords. Families have split, friendships have been broken. How do you see the future of Auroville and how do you believe harmony can be re-established?

Unfortunately, discord and disharmony have always been part of this community. May I remind you of the split among the Aurovilians during the 1980’s. Our sadhana as Aurovilians has always been to go beyond these limitations and human chaos. Only when all of us replace these individual desires in the matter and put ourselves sincerely at the service of the Divine will these issues vanish. We need to be disinterestedly passionate. Harmony and unity could be established if we all stood together and work for something higher than ourselves, for which we are all here. Sincerity plays a big role in it.